Dirda's Reading Room: Talking Books and Literature With Michael Dirda

This Is NOT a Silent Reading Room

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This Is NOT a Silent Reading Room

posted at 11/3/2008 2:56 PM EST

Elizabeth_Terry

First post: 10/28/2008
Last post: 9/9/2009
Total posts: 79

Hello, fellow book lovers! This is where you can let the moderators know what kinds of discussions you'd like to have in the Reading Room. We'll keep an eye on your suggestions, and we welcome and appreciate your feedback.

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Re: This Is NOT a Silent Reading Room

posted at 11/12/2008 10:47 AM EST

jeffelkins

First post: 11/12/2008
Last post: 11/12/2008
Total posts: 4

Elizabeth, can only moderators start a new thread?

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Re: This Is NOT a Silent Reading Room

posted at 11/12/2008 10:51 AM EST

Elizabeth_Terry

First post: 10/28/2008
Last post: 9/9/2009
Total posts: 79

Replying to:

Elizabeth, can only moderators start a new thread?
Posted by jeffelkins

Correct, only moderators can start a new thread - therefore I made this thread so you can all tell us what kinds of threads you want us to start!

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I once read this book...

posted at 11/12/2008 11:22 AM EST

erorie

First post: 4/8/2008
Last post: 7/20/2009
Total posts: 7

How about a thread for people who need help remembering a book or writer or character. People can post their vague memories and others can chime in with guesses or even definitive answers. I've seen a lot of this type of question in the Dirda chats over the years.

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Re: This Is NOT a Silent Reading Room

posted at 11/12/2008 11:40 AM EST

jeffelkins

First post: 11/12/2008
Last post: 11/12/2008
Total posts: 4

Replying to:

Correct, only moderators can start a new thread - therefore I made this thread so you can all tell us what kinds of threads you want us to start!
Posted by Elizabeth_Terry

If that's an option you can change I hope you revisit it down the road. Just sayin...:)

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Genre Discussions

posted at 11/12/2008 7:37 PM EST

Barquentine

First post: 11/12/2008
Last post: 11/29/2009
Total posts: 119

A favorite feature of DOB was recommendations of well written genre books, especially in areas like SF and Romance where dreck seems to dominate. I would like to see regular threads highlighting and recommending good genre fiction. To limit the scope perhaps individual threads can be devoted to sub-genres such as time travel, historical romance, etc.

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I once read this book. . . .

posted at 11/12/2008 9:25 PM EST

nebuly

First post: 11/12/2008
Last post: 11/19/2009
Total posts: 258

Great idea for a thread. I know there are a couple of discussion groups (specialising in supernatural and SF) where this sort of question is frequently asked; not only is the book/story/author being sought after usually identified, a number of other interesting books/stories/authors are often thrown up as well. Great fun!

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If you like this, you'll like that

posted at 11/13/2008 8:49 AM EST

drrico

First post: 12/13/2007
Last post: 11/18/2009
Total posts: 228

What I liked best about DOB was that it put me on to books and authors that I hadn't discovered before, usually in reference to someone else. ("What Austen was to Regency England and Twain was to the post-Civil War West, Smith was to pre-Dominion Canada." A comment like that would always drive me to the library to look for anything by Smith. [I made up this example, but now I find myself wishing for a Smith.]) How about a thread that allows folks to ask, I really like author X, who should I read next? The associations are valuable in themselves, and also for what they say about how people read books. ("I think Tolstoy is exactly like Shakespeare because...")

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Books on politics

posted at 11/13/2008 9:04 AM EST

ladymacbeth977

First post: 11/3/2008
Last post: 10/15/2009
Total posts: 18

In the high following the recent political election, I'll bet I'm not the only one looking for good political biographies/ political thought books.

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Charles Dickens bio

posted at 11/13/2008 9:36 AM EST

ledrock

First post: 11/13/2008
Last post: 11/13/2008
Total posts: 2

I'm interested in finding a great biography of Charles Dickens. There seems to be a surprising dirth of biographies of him that don't read like text books. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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Dickens biography

posted at 11/13/2008 10:06 AM EST

nebuly

First post: 11/12/2008
Last post: 11/19/2009
Total posts: 258

Try Edgar Johnson's CHARLES DICKENS: HIS TRAGEDY AND TRIUMPH, originally published in two volumes in 1952 and then revised and abridged in 1977. Johnson not only covers Dickens's life and works, but the world in which he lived and the people he knew, and the book is very readable indeed.

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Translation thread

posted at 11/13/2008 1:42 PM EST

jkdenne

First post: 11/13/2008
Last post: 11/9/2009
Total posts: 13

I am interested in a thread on books in translations and the art of translation in general. We had discussions on it at DOB. Is there any interest?

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Re: Translation thread

posted at 11/13/2008 1:49 PM EST

nebuly

First post: 11/12/2008
Last post: 11/19/2009
Total posts: 258

Replying to:

I am interested in a thread on books in translations and the art of translation in general. We had discussions on it at DOB. Is there any interest?
Posted by jkdenne

I'd be interested in a thread about this; translations (specifically 'What's the best translation of XXXX?') came up a lot on the old discussion, and there were a lot of good comments on the art of translating in general.

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Cinema and Literature

posted at 11/13/2008 4:16 PM EST

Barquentine

First post: 11/12/2008
Last post: 11/29/2009
Total posts: 119

There is a large area where literature and cinema overlap. I would like to see threads relating to this relationship. Some suggestions: Best / worst adaptations, literary bio-films, movies about fictional writers, writers as screenwriters or directors, novelizations (if that’s not too sub-literary a form), Hollywood novels.

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Re: Cinema and Literature

posted at 11/13/2008 9:04 PM EST

nebuly

First post: 11/12/2008
Last post: 11/19/2009
Total posts: 258

Replying to:

Excellent suggestion!

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Suggestions

posted at 11/14/2008 4:35 PM EST

Dallas88

First post: 11/14/2008
Last post: 11/15/2009
Total posts: 17

I’m so excited about this group since I’ve been missing DOB!

Suggestions:

“Who are you?” – posters can list their favorite books and authors, favorite genres, where they are from, etc.

“What are you reading in November?” - Instead of having a long on-going list of what everyone is reading, how about what everyone is reading each month?

“Favorite audio books?”

“Recent reissues of books that were out of print”

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Another suggestion

posted at 11/14/2008 5:38 PM EST

Dallas88

First post: 11/14/2008
Last post: 11/15/2009
Total posts: 17

Would also like a thread about "comfort" books - books that people like to revist especially when they need something to cheer themselves up.

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This is NOT a Silent Reading Room

posted at 11/20/2008 8:37 PM EST

m12r38123451

First post: 11/18/2008
Last post: 4/28/2009
Total posts: 131

Hello Elizabeth! I don't know if this has been suggested already, but I would love to see a discussion on what fiction work or works (a very few, at most) have particularly stayed with us over the years. It might be something that didn't even impress us when first reading it, but which keeps coming to mind now and again. It would also have to be something which still impresses us on re-reading. I have three: Don Quixote (read twice in two different translations), Hamlet, and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

(By the way, like many of us I was aghast, and dejected, when DOB got the hook, but I'm beginning to think the new set-up has promise. Kudos again to you, too, for making it work!)
Regards.

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Re: Translation thread

posted at 11/20/2008 9:20 PM EST

m12r38123451

First post: 11/18/2008
Last post: 4/28/2009
Total posts: 131

Replying to:

I am interested in a thread on books in translations and the art of translation in general. We had discussions on it at DOB. Is there any interest?
Posted by jkdenne

Hello! I'm very interested in this topic too. I have The Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation; it's useful, but it's also eight years old now (unless updated without my knowing it). Regards.

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Not a thread suggestion, but unsure where else to put it

posted at 11/21/2008 4:43 PM EST

Todd_T_in_Leesburg

First post: 11/21/2008
Last post: 11/21/2008
Total posts: 2

I noticed that there seems to be no link to Dirda's Reading Room at either the Post's blog index or the archive page for Dirda on Books. This would be a simple step to help seekers find their way.

Wishing DRR the best and visiting whenever the chance arises.

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